


Filed Under: Unresolved Romances

by Butterfly



Series: Scenes from a Resurrection Story [4]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Fix-it fic, Gen, Margo Hanson/Josh Hoberman (mentioned), Quentin Coldwater/Alice Quinn (mentioned) - Freeform, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh (mentioned) - Freeform, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh/Margo Hanson (mentioned), just FYI, not for sex or violence, polyamory negotiations (mentioned), the mature rating is because of margo talking a lot and swearing creatively
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 09:33:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18657730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly/pseuds/Butterfly
Summary: Margo and Alice negotiate terms.





	Filed Under: Unresolved Romances

**Author's Note:**

> There is still talk and allusions to suicide and depression in this fic, so content warnings for that. I feel like there should also be some kind of warning for Margo being Margo.

**Filed Under: ~~Heroic Sacrifices~~ Unresolved Romances**

 

“Jesus humping lizards on a merry-go-round, I know _sloths_ that move faster than you! Get! To! _**Work**_!” was Margo's parting volley at the group of Librarians as they left Alice's new office in something of a hurried scurry. Margo let herself smile and then shut the door behind them, turning back to Alice. “Okay, have to admit it's kinda nice to be able to order those limp-dicked bastards around after all the shit they've done to us.” She gave the room a critical look-over, noting the changes that Alice had already made – pictures of space shit up on the walls instead of portraits, the color scheme lifted up a little out of the boring dull grey that infested the Library like a fungus, and comfortable fucking chairs, thank fucking Hera and all the goddamn Furies. Margo plopped herself down into the main visitor's chair. “I almost can't believe that El is actually out there _reading a book_ instead of tricking someone else into doing it for him. I think I actually saw him give a sincere smile this morning? Fuck, I missed his face when it smiles. Which, Alice, that means we gotta talk about this before someone gets hurt. Because- because now it might actually matter in the near future so – you and Q? You hit the 'on' switch on your relationship again before everything went down, right? Pretty sure that's what all the soppy hand-holding was about, anyway.” Alice blinked at her with those big blue eyes of hers.

“We did,” Alice said, though the upswing at the end made it sound half like a question. “He said he wanted to give us a try again and I was-” Her mouth twisted and her eyes jumped away from Margo's. “I was so grateful he didn't still hate me that I never even considered questioning how quickly his change of heart happened. After he... after he died-” She tucked her hair behind her ears with nervous fingers. “-it made me rethink everything. I'm not going to assume we're together. If anything resets the board, it would be death. But I- I _do_ want to try again, if he still wants that. I plan on asking him.”

“El's in love with him,” Margo said flatly, carefully watching how Alice flinched a little and then nodded shakily. “But I'm gonna tell you a secret – I tried to tell you this once before, but you didn't believe me, I think. El's like me. He doesn't think of his competitors as enemies. You two can tussle over Q and still come out of it as friends, no matter who gets the big prize at the end.” She paused for a moment, considering. “Well, average but oddly cute prize.”

“Sometimes I forget that you've seen Quentin's penis too,” Alice said, snorting back a laugh. “Is that weird? I never forget about Eliot.”

“Not weird; it's smart. You knew who the actual threat to your relationship was,” Margo said with an airy wave, relaxing into the chair. “I love our little Q to pieces, but even as a friend, he is high-fucking-maintenance. I'd rather shove a live porcupine up my twat than actually date him.”

“I'm _never_ going to be able to get that out of my mind.” Alice looked slightly queasy. “Does all your imagery have to be so... vivid?”

“Yep.” Margo shrugged. “Oh, another thing. I know your parents were... selfish assholes about it all, but maybe consider the idea of a mutual win? Think it over, at least.” Alice's face went through an entire emotional journey as she considered and discarded several responses, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Margo lifted an eyebrow. “I'm not saying rush into a time-share situation. Just... don't dismiss it out of hand. Maybe it wouldn't work, because of your family and because of what happened back when we were all at Brakebills. But maybe it would. We've all grown up a little since that fuck-up.”

“I... will consider it,” Alice said, stiltedly, though she looked like she'd taken an unexpected bite out of a lemon. “Um, can we talk about... anything else – what's happening in Fillory? You and Eliot weren't forthcoming about the details earlier.”

“Ugh, what a clusterfuck,” Margo moaned, collapsing further into the chair like a dying star. “We think it happened because of all the magic being drained out of the reservoir and then dumped back into the universe after the bottles went into the Seam and the Bonds were released but, yeah. I went there hoping for some grief-fueled banging, and it turns out some _Narnia_ _bullshit_ happened in the meantime. They have a 'dark king' now, which is so generic that I wanna strangle myself, and everyone there that I- everyone that mattered is rotting in the ground somewhere. Clusterfuck of epic proportions.”

“What do you plan to do?” Alice asked, and she was still sitting so carefully, so primly, on the edge of her seat. “I know that Q and Julia went to Fillory's past-”

“-yeah, he's done it a couple of times,” Margo said. “So. He's the one with the track record. It's been three centuries. It'll keep for however long it takes for us to get Q back.”

“But Josh-”

“Hoberman will keep,” Margo said, firmly. “I'm not gonna be that bitch who abandons her friends once she's hooked up with a dude.” Not again. Not ever again. “And you know how Q is when he's got a quest to keep him occupied, so. Two birds, one bullet.”

“Do you think he'll... feel well enough for that?” Alice asked, hesitantly. “He might want a break from quests and magic and being needed.”

“Oh, trust me, I've got a whole fucking mental health checklist for us to go through,” Margo said. “He's gonna see a goddamn therapist – a _Magician_ – he's gonna get some fucking meds, he's gonna get every damn thing he needs. We will fucking bully him back to being his best fucking self if we have to, and it is gonna be a group-fucking-effort and I'm willing to kneecap any one of you who fights me on it.” She nodded, satisfied.

Alice looked slightly queasy again. She opened her mouth, and then jumped in her seat, like someone had goosed her ass. She reached down and- ah. She pulled one of the cards that Julia had given her out of the pocket of her pantsuit – the queen of hearts – and stared at it for a second as it vibrated. “Oh,” she breathed out.

“Don't moon at it, answer the fucking playing card, Quinn,” Margo said, hopping up from her chair.

Alice dropped the card down on her desk and went through the tuts that Julia had shown them yesterday, then Penny's voice came through, muffled and talking _fast_ but audible. “Coldwater says there are two main issues to solve – normal rez spells, even dangerous as they are, won't work because his body was dusted and swept into the Seam, so he needs a new one. Because we won't be getting any help from the Underworld officially, it's gonna need to be as sympathetic to his magic as possible, so he told me to remind you he gave a vial of his blood to a witch in Fillory once. Then we have to figure out how to reattach him to it, which is gonna be a problem because, again, every molecule of his last-living physical existence was destroyed. Try to find Malicot's Compleat – it's spelled C-O-M-P-L-E-A-T, which, you know, whatever – Malicot's Compleat Spellbook For Interdimensional Accidents. Coldwater says the old geezer's Book claims he finished it and it should have something useful. He also sent a personal message, so – Alice. Quentin said he's sorry for not being a team player and making you watch him die like that. It was a dick move. Those weren't his exact words, but his words sucked. Anyway, you've got somewhere between forty-five and sixty seconds for a reply, so think fast.”

“Oh-um-” Alice's entire body was somehow managing to flutter nervously. Margo rolled her eyes.

“Got it, O.G. Penny,” Margo said, leaning over the table to talk directly into the card. “Tell Coldwater I'm gonna kick his ass for dying on me. Tell him I'll smack him into next year if he ever does it again. Tell him... tell him I'm fucking proud of him for fighting back now and not giving up, okay? Tell him every person here loves the goddamn hell out of him and that we'd all have been fine with letting that douchebag be a god until we killed the dick as a group, as long as it meant we didn't lose our favorite sullen nerdboy.” She looked over at Alice, gave her an encouraging nod.

“Um. Let him know I accept his apology?” Alice's hands were gripping the edge of the desk so tightly that her knuckles were going white. “I- Penny... thank you. For helping us. We all miss you, too. The new Penny is... he's fine, but it's not the same. Thank you.” She dropped back into her chair as the color drained out of the card, leaving it gray and silent. She pressed her hands over her face, shaking. Margo hesitated a moment but then rounded the desk, wrapping Alice up in a tight hug.

“We're getting him back,” Margo said, smoothing her hands over Alice's back and shoulders, trying to be gentle. “We'll get him back and once he's better, we can all yell at him for making us worry.” Alice was definitely crying now. Margo pressed her cheek against the top of Alice's head. “And maybe attach one of those toddler leashes to him, make sure he can't get himself into any more trouble.” There was a bubbling laugh from Alice, but it was still half a sob.

Margo blinked away a couple of her own tears. She didn't have time for that right now, so she just held Alice.

Waited out the storm.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sadly! I could not get the strikethrough to work in the title bar, but the full title of this story is: **Filed Under: ~~Heroic Sacrifices~~ Unresolved Romances**
> 
> .


End file.
